Monorail engine



March 2 1926.

T. H.y WRIGHT MONORAIL ENGINE Filed' Nov, 2, 1923 o mi" .ri-HIVI 3Sheets-Sheet l Qniill" :mim

'March 2 1926. 1,575,304

` T. H, WRIGHT MQNORAIL ENGINE Filed Nov. 2, 1923 3 sheets-sheet 2 l C IEl@ March 2 1-926. 1,575,304

T. H. WRIGHT MONORAIL ENGINE Filed Nov. 2, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5Patented Mar. 2, 1926.

unirse star Morneau linmean aannemer a i923.- saei .Ne were.

To all whom t may concern:

13e tknown that L THOMAS H- WRIGHT, a citizenV of the United States,residing at Los Angeles7 in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented'netv and useful Improvements in MonorailFun'.- glues. of wlhcl'l the :following iS a speeication.

My invention relates to monorail engines and has for its purpose ,theprovsionof a novel Safety .drive and braking mechanism im object of myv"111.ventral is to render a monorel engine against accident due tobreaking of the driving means, while the engine is located upon aV gradetrack,

Another object is to nrovide a novel braking means which maybeconcurrently applied to the front and rear wheels of amonorail @usine A,Still further object is .t provid@ 'auXiL iary braking means4applicable to the monorail.

Other objects and advantages of iny invention will be made manifestinthe following specification and accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved inonorail engine.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan of the same.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the service braking mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the auxiliary brakingmechanism in nonbraking position.

Fig. 5 is a sectional. view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

In the operation of monorail trains over hilly terrain, I havediscovered that the great strain of starting a train on a grade isliable to break one or both of the mechanisms provided for delivery ofthe motive power from the motor to the wheels. In or- .der to overcomethis,4 I have provided a double sprocket upon each end of the drivingaxle 16 of the monorail motor M. In alignment with a gear of each of thedouble sprockets 15 and fixed to supporting axles 17 are drivensprockets 18. Chains 19 connect the driven and drive sprockets thusaligned and transmit the motive force from the motor M to the mainsupporting axles 17 and thus to the grooved wheels 2O mount ed thereon.As will be seen by reference to Fig. 2, dual power transmitting meansyis thus provided between the motor and each ef .the axles '1;7. With anengine provided with this mechanism one ofthe chains '1;9 might breakand the axle 17 would still 1be driven by a chain 19 upon the oppositeysigle ofthe motor. The axles 17 are jburnaled in Nbones 21 which areprovided with adjusting links 22 for shifting the axles 17longitudinally to tighten or4 relax the ,Chains 19 as desired.

For operating in the hills it is found necessary to provide my rnonorailengine with sand "boxes S and sand dispensing pipes 23 from which thedispensing of sand in the path of the wheels is controlled by anysuitable means (not shown).

Braking means for concurrently retarding the axles 17 is provided. Thiscemprises brake drums 24 fixedly mounted upon the axles `17, andcontacted by Vshoes 25 carried by brake jaws 26 a-1id`27- whicharepivoted at 2S t'o the frame of the engine. Means for swinging the jaws26 and 27 toward each other and bringing the shoes in contact with thebrake drum 24 for effecting braking action comprises a lever 29fulcrumed at 30 in the `bifurcated upper` terminal portion of the jaw26. At the opposite end of the lever 29 is pivotally attached anoperating link 31 the other end of which is pivoted to the end of an arm32 mounted upon an operating shaft 33. Pivotally mounted upon the lever29 and medially from the ends thereof is a rod 34 which passes through aboss 35 formed upon the frame of the vehicle and a spring 36 and acollar 37 mounted pivotally in the upper terminal bifurcated end of thejaw 27. A

nut 38 is turned down upon the threaded end of the rod 34 against thecollar 37 so that when the operating shaft 33 is rotated so as to drawthe link 31 away from the brake, jaws 27 and 26 will be rocked towardeach other thereby effecting a braking ac tion.. Aswill be seen in Fig.3, rotation of the yoperating shaft 33 causes braking actionconcurrently on both the front and rear brake drums 24. VAs will beunderstood7 this is a very desirable feature in a monorail engine Wherethere are but two wheels for effecting driving and braking action forthe entire train of cars. A hand lever 39 is mounted upon theYoperating` shaft 33 and provided with a ratchet keeperk 40 for operationand maintaining the brakes in brak'- ing relation with the drums 24.

An auxiliary or modified form of braking means which I have found verysuccessful upon my monorail engines is illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6. Inthis form of brake a jack screw 41 threadedly 'engages a cross piece 42connecting the sides of a frame 43. The screw 41 is providedat its upperextremity with a wheel 44 for manual rotation of the same. As will beclearly seen in Fig. 4, the lower end of the jack screw 41 is turneddown to provide a shoulder 45 andk a threaded pin 46. This pin fitsclosely an opening in a bracket 47 so that the shoulder 45 bears againstsaid bracket. The bracket 45 is mounted upon a brake shoe 48 which maybe lowered in contact with the rail R by rotation of the hand wheel 44.A nut 49 is turned onto the jack screw 41 and forms` a shoulder to limitthe downward movement of the jack screw 41. kThis serves to keep theoperator from screwing the jack screw 41 down to such an extent that thewheel flanges would jump the rai-l. `Braces 50 are provided pivotallysecured to the frame 43 at 51 and rigidly secured to the brake shoe 48at their opposite ends. These braces serve to transmit to the frame 43retarding tendency of the brake shoe when pressed against the rail.l/Vhen it is desired to life the brake shoe 48 from the rail, the jackscrew 41 is rotatedso that it of the bracket 47 lifting the brake shoe48 from engagement with the rail R. The bottom surface of the brake shoe48 is provided with down turned edges 58 which prevent any possibilityof the shoe leaving the rail when pressed into engagement therewith.

It will thus be seen that I have invented a very effective braking meansparticularly adapted for use on vehicles yof the monorail type. IVhilesome of the monorail engines which-I now have in operation are merelyfitted for the brake illustrated in Fig. 3, for the more hilly regions Ind that additional braking surface than that supplied by the twosupporting wheels is necessary in which case I am adding to the engineequipment the brake illustrated in Figs. 4 to 6.

l/Vhat I claim is:

In a monorail car construction having a frame with axles at oppositeends mounted therein, central wheels on said axles, the combination of acentrally positioned engine having a driving axle, a pair of sprocketson each end of the driving axle, a pair of sprockets on each of thesupporting axles between the wheels and the bearings, and sprocketchains leading in'opposite directions from the sprockets on the drivingaxle, said chains driving the sprockets on the supporting wheels.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. c

THOMAS Hfwnieirr.

